The perfect combination of nostalgia and aesthetics, the swimming pool at the Raleigh was originally built for MGM's aquatic film star Esther Williams in the Forties.

When it was recently restored by the hotel's new owner, Andre Balazs (Uma Thurman's main squeeze), finding exactly the right colour to paint around the edge of this bodacious, curvaceous pool took six months, while sourcing the right sort of black inner tubes to act as rings took nine more.

But it was worth it. These days, accessorised by top DJs and killer mojitos, it serves as the backdrop to Miami's louchest, liveliest pool party each Sunday. The Raleigh's pool - democratically available to all, not just the hotel's guests - is undulating proof that heritage pools are the new infinity pools.